Liquid Air – Just Another Energy Storage

Liquid air is more of an alternative energy storage than an alternative fuel source.

In liquid air technology, air is cooled into cryogenic temperatures to transform it into liquid state, stored in a cryogenic tank for transport and use in liquid air cycle engines.

Table 1 - Energy Storage Capacity Comparison

Technology

Energy Storage CapacityWatt-hours/kg

Remarks

Gasoline

3000

Base Case

Lithium-Ion Battery

100 - 250

3.3% - 8.3%

Liquid Air

97

3.2%

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_nitrogen_vehicle
Note: As air is almost 80% nitrogen, liquid nitrogen was used as the basis in this comparison.

From table 1, it could easily be assessed that liquid air energy storage is lower than the lower value of lithium-ion storage battery. For this technology to fly, it should surpass existing technologies.